cjoline WBC's flames produce little heat Church's holy book/flag burning draws little public, media interest
By _Phil Anderson_ (http://cjonline.com/authors/phil_anderson) Created September 11, 2010 at 3:19pm Updated September 12, 2010 at 12:34am President Barack Obama didn't weigh in like he did when a pastor in Florida threatened to burn the Quran. And Defense Secretary Robert Gates didn't make a personal phone call urging the same minister to call it off. The burning of a Quran and an American flag Saturday by members of Westboro Baptist Church drew little visible interest. Instead of the hoards of media representatives that descended on Florida, only a handful of area reporters turned out at noon for Westboro's burning. "I'm glad it didn't get a lot of publicity and it didn't draw a lot of people to the church," said Imam Omar Hazim, of the Islamic Center of Topeka. "It seemed people in Topeka ignored what they were doing." Members of Topeka's Islamic community were absent from the event. Hazim said that was by design. Hazim learned Friday morning of Westboro Baptist's plans to burn the Quran. He said he mentioned the plans in his 1 p.m. sermon Friday, which was Id al-Fitr, a holiday marking the end of the month of Ramadan, and he asked local Muslims to stay away from Saturday's event. "If we had 40 or 50 of us there and they started getting angry, things could get out of control," Hazim said. "So I told them to ignore it." Mayor Bill Bunten, who was at home watching The University of Kansas football game during the burning, said national attention on Westboro Baptist is waning. "The fool in Florida one-upped them," Bunten said, referring to the Rev. Terry Jones, of the Dove Outreach Center church in Gainesville, Fla. "They were apparently tagging along on his idea, so the fellow in Florida had stolen the stage, so to speak." The mayor said Westboro Baptist events are "kind of old hat now." During the burning of the Quran and the flag, Westboro Baptist members sang parodies of familiar hymns and patriotic songs. Meanwhile, Umar McKloskey, of Chapman, held his own silent counterprotest on a corner across the street. McKloskey, 56, positioned himself on the southeast corner of S.W. 12th and Orleans, holding a copy of the Quran in his right hand and a pamphlet on Islam in his left as he faced westbound motorists who were passing by on S.W. 12th. "I'm here to promote the Quran, in respect of the fact that there are people here who want to disrespect the Quran," said McKloskey, who came with several family members. "We want to let people know the Quran is worthy of respect. "It contains the names of not only Muhammad but also Jesus, Mary, Moses, Abraham, Adam — in fact, all of the prophets. Anyone attacking the Quran — it's like attacking the Bible, because these are people who are prominently mentioned in the Bible, as well." A few other counterprotesters, some waving flags, also turned out to show support for America on the sunny afternoon, which marked the ninth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. One counterprotester held a sign that read, "Honk If You Love Our Country." A fire pit was positioned on a basketball court inside a fenced-in area just north of Westboro Baptist, 3701 S.W. 12th. In the pit were a copy of the Quran and an American flag. Shirley Phelps-Roper, of Westboro Baptist, announced earlier in the week plans to burn a Quran and an American flag — saying they were examples of "idols" people worship today. The announcement came as Jones, the Florida minister, canceled plans for a public Quran burning. Jones had been implored by religious and political leaders to call off burning the Qurans amid worldwide media coverage. As scheduled, the Quran and American flag were burned at noon Saturday at Westboro Baptist. Phelps-Roper squirted additional lighter fluid on the Quran several times when the flames went out. About three dozen people, mostly church members, were on hand inside the fenced-in area for the event, which lasted about 20 minutes. In addition to The Topeka Capital-Journal, three local television stations covered the event. "I thought it was awesome," Shirley Phelps-Roper said afterward. "It was another 14 on a scale of 10." A Topeka police car cruised past the church at least two times, but besides some yelling back and forth, there were no major confrontations. Phelps-Roper said she was glad some came who disagreed with the church's message. "I love that — everybody saying what they have to say," she said. Phelps-Roper questioned those who believed the church's event was being ignored, based on e-mail messages it had been receiving and the amount of online traffic it was generating. "We get e-mails when things are happening here," she said. "We've had just a huge upsurge in e-mails. Plus, it's all over the Internet. It's all over Twitter." An official with the U.S. Justice Department from Kansas City, Mo., was on hand to monitor the event. Afterward, the official met with local Muslim leaders at the Islamic Center of Topeka, 1115 S.E. 27th.... -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org
